Pages

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

There are many ways to prepare for your Geometry End Of Course Test. Your teacher will provide practice, there are study guides available, and online practice. The more you use all of these, the better you will do. A good online practice test site is www.usatestprep.com. Your teacher can give you the passwords. Practice these over and over again. Ask about the problems you don't understand.

There are two parts of the test. Each part is 45-60 minute. You will take the test within the dates of May 11-22. That will depend on your school.

The Geometry test is online. Most students like that. The drawings are large! Yea! You can skip probs and then go back to them. Definitely have a basic calculator with you. No graphing calculators. :)

The Geometry EOCT gives you a formula sheet that you may use during the test. That is nice to have but you need to be familiar with the list so you can you get the most out of it. First it tells you what each letter stands for just like you see here.

Explanation of Symbols

First it gives you lower case letters.

b = based = distanceh= heightl =slant heightr= radius

Then it gives you upper case letters. Some of this you haven't had yet but will soon.A =AreaB =Area of BaseC =CircumferenceLA =Lateral AreaP= PerimeterB= Area of BaseS =Surface AreaV =Volume

Then it gives a few formulas. Notice that even though it gives you the formula, it does not tell you when to use the formula. You have to know that yourself.A= 1/2 bhV =BhV= 1/3 Bh

LA= Ph

LA= 1/2 Pl

We will practice all of this a little at a time. Don't worry, just come and work the problems every day. We start that tomorrow. See you then.

It seems like a long time until your End Of Course Test but it's really only a few weeks. It will be here before you know it. Don't wait too long to begin preparing for it. Make sure you come back soon and get started on your problems. Lots of you reminded me that Spring Break starts next week so you won't be working on geometry! You are right. You need a break. I will post problems during Spring Break but you can answer all of them the following week. Just email me at realmathinaminute@hotmail.com when you get back and you can get stared then!

What are doing over the break? Be safe! Use good judgment! Rest! Enjoy having some time with your family and friends.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Okay! Here's the deal. Every school day starting April 1, several geometry problems will appear on this blog. All problems will come from past Georgia EOCTs (End Of Course Tests). Every geometry student in Georgia public schools takes the EOCT. Your score counts 15% of your geometry grade. That's a lot! It can make a big difference.

Here's your part. You work the problem and email me the answer. If you send me your name, your school, your state, your teacher's name and his/her school email address, I will keep track of the number of problems you answer correctly. Right before you take the EOCT, I will send your teacher the total number of problems you get right!

Now, I don't know if your teacher will give you any credit for this or not. That is entirely up to them. I do know that IT WILL HELP YOU get a better grade on the EOCT. So do it for yourself, and if you get a couple of bonus points, that's great too. Right?

If you do not live in Georgia, you can still play along. I'm sure you have a final test also, so it will help you too.

Rules:1. Print this and show it to your teacher and parent before you start just so they'll know what you are doing.2. You may answer the questions anytime during the week they are posted but no later than 9:00 PM Georgia time on Friday of each week. Nothing after 9:00 PM on Friday will count.3. It is okay if you get help with the answers because that will help you too.4. I will post all of the answers for the week in this blog sometime after 9:00 PM each Friday.5. I will keep track of the number of questions you answer correctly and will send the total to your teacher the week before your big test.6. Send all answers to realmathinaminute@hotmail.com. In the subject line, put GEOMETRY EOCT.

This should be fun! Some questions will be reeeeaaaalllllyyyy easy and some will be more challenging but all will help you remember and be prepared for your big test!

I hope you will play along with all of us! See you Wednesday, April 1....and I'm not foolin'!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Just wondered. Are you looking for help with your math? Are you looking for challenging questions or puzzles? Are you looking for simple math questions so you can get them right? This site is all about math and will grow to include, well, all stuff about math!

Did I mention you will find art here too? Well, you will. I am a somewhat odd combination of mathematician and artist. Come and find both here. Display your math too. Display your art too.